When Debbie Williamson first moved to Sheboygan 35 years ago, she was told there was no symphony in town. When she found that wasn't the case, nothing could stop her from playing.

“I joined the Sheboygan Symphony when my youngest son was 1 week old,” Williamson said. “I wasn’t even supposed to be driving yet, since I was newly out of the hospital.”

Now, 34 years since becoming concertmaster in the orchestra, Williamson is preparing to retire to spend more time with family.

“My husband and I decided it is time to do other things while we are young enough that we still can,” she said. “We don’t have any real plans. We have another house in Arkansas, so we’ll spend more time down there.”

“I have mixed feelings,” Williamson continued. “I don’t really want to leave, but yet, life keeps moving on and there are other things I want to do yet. You don’t want to wait until you're 80 and can’t do much else.”

In her final concert Saturday, Oct. 3, Williamson will perform Bach's Concerto for Two Violins with the orchestra's conductor, Kevin McMahon. Tickets are still available for the 7:30 p.m. performance at the Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts in Sheboygan.

“She suggested she wanted to perform it with me,” McMahon said. “It was the way she put it to me, that it will be something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives and it was important that we do it. It’s a fitting way to celebrate her 34 years with the Sheboygan Symphony.”

Williamson, who has been playing violin since age 10, taught orchestra at both the elementary and high school level in Sheboygan, as well as Lakeland College, and was instrumental in forming the Sheboygan String Quartet and Sheboygan Area Youth Symphony. She conducted her final concert with the youth symphony last spring.

She has served as concertmaster of the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra since joining the group, a position that provides a variety of behind-the-scenes functions, such as determining how the strings should play each piece and tuning the orchestra.

“All the sections depend on you for not only counting, but how you are going to play something,” Williamson said. “You are also oftentimes the go-between between the conductor and the orchestra.”

Williamson, who has a bachelor's of music education degree from Illinois State University, maintains a home studio for private lessons. She also holds bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture — and designed the family's home in Arkansas.

McMahon said Williamson has been integral to the growth and success of the orchestra.

“The word I would use to describe Debbie is caring,” he said. “Debbie being in Sheboygan is kind of a once-in-a-lifetime experience for an orchestra. You don’t usually, in a community group like this, have someone of her qualities that ends up arriving. This orchestra wouldn’t be where they are if it wasn’t for her.

“There are many things that were carried on her back. She has done a lot for the youth here," he continued. "My job would have been a lot harder if she hadn’t been here, and I’m grateful for the fact that she was here."

Looking back at her time in the orchestra, Williamson said choosing McMahon as conductor is a standout memory. She had been on multiple search committees for new conductors over the years, but said McMahon's test rehearsal stood out.

“One of the rehearsals that really stands out was the rehearsal that (McMahon) conducted as his audition,” she said. “I knew immediately that I wanted him to conduct this orchestra next.”

Opening night of the Weill Center is another memory she will always treasure, she said.

“That was a momentous event,” Williamson said. “It was a really big night when the auditorium opened for the first time. We were very excited.”

Tickets are available for the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra at the Weill Center ticket office, 920-208-3243, or from the symphony office, 920- 452-1985. Tickets are $39, $35, $30, $22 and $15 for students.

The Oct. 3 program also includes a performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 of Keith Emerson by pianist Jeffrey Biegel and Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite.